ENABLING A FUTURE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE BUILDINGS

Modernisation and re-use of cultural heritage buildings has been a constant theme over a long period of time; for some buildings this begins shortly after original construction and is a continuing process. Adaptation, alteration and extension may all be part of this, as captured by TS Eliot - "In succession Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended, Are removed, destroyed, restored" [1]. More recent examples include in London the adaptation of the King Charles Palace at Greenwich (itself a world heritage site) for Trinity College of Music and St Pancras Chambers, now returned to luxury hotel use. Warehouses are converted to apartments and art galleries and private dwellings to hotels. At one extreme, facade retention keeps at least a part of what is deemed to be of significance. The challenges such changes offer are considerable, aesthetically, technically and in terms of heritage significance. These include determining an acceptable approach when adding or extending, reconciling design life requirements between new construction and fabric which may be several hundred years old, the application of regulatory requirements to new and old, avoiding unintended changes to existing load-paths. A delicate balance between an element of pragmatism in accommodating change without excessive compromise is required. The need to meet these challenges is imperative. In England alone it is thought that there are approximately 17000 listed buildings 'at risk'. Appropriate re-use of such buildings, with or without an actual change of use, is needed to provide them with a viable economic future, a 'future for the past'.